


A Savage Harvest

by Aequoria



Series: Soulbound [1]
Category: Homestuck
Genre: Blood, Cutting, Established Relationship, Human Sacrifice, M/M, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-09-21
Updated: 2012-09-21
Packaged: 2017-11-14 17:10:22
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,388
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/517589
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Aequoria/pseuds/Aequoria
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In a universe where humans worship 12 powerful demons that demand sacrifices to feed their power, John Egbert's soul is claimed by the Starfather of Cancer.</p><p>Tonight, Karkat finally comes to collect what he is owed.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Savage Harvest

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Imorb](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Imorb/gifts).



> This is based on Imorb's and my AU called Soulbound. The basic premise is in this [post](http://pufflebug.tumblr.com/post/30043001419/johnkat-au-soulbound) but please check out the [johnkat soulbound](http://www.tumblr.com/tagged/johnkat+soulbound) tag for additional information, fanart, and other fanfiction.
> 
> This is set towards the end of the AU story, so Karkat and John have already gone through their romantic ups and downs. Sorry if it makes no sense, um, I'll have other parts up from the actual story at some point.
> 
> Title from a poem by Pablo Neruda. :)

They'd asked him to choose where to cut, and now as he felt the blood running down his forearms he felt a wild burst of fear.

He was on his own now, left alone as the commandments dictated on a stone table, on top of white cotton sheets that would later soak red and be burnt as an offering. He had been prepared well for this- his body washed and perfumed with fragrant oils, his hair artfully decorated with flowers and whatever precious stones their village could find. He was clothed in the finest the local weavers could make- his shoulders bare and robe loose to show the mark of Cancer upon his chest. He knew what to do; he knew to lie down quietly and meditate and recite the cleansing prayers that had been prepared so that the Knight of Blood would not receive a dirtied soul.

But all he could concentrate on now was the fact that he was alone and shivering, all outside noises shut out by the heavy wooden doors that led to the village. His father and sister had come to see him earlier, and all his friends, but he had only been able to spend an hour with them before being taken away to the sacrificial table. Now, he was bleeding from two deep, vertical slices running the lengths of his forearms, and he could only watch in panic as the red spread over the pure white of the cotton underneath.

His fingers began to tremble, and all at once Karkat appeared by his side.

"Took you long enough to get here," John bit out, wondering whether he was supposed to sit up and greet him properly, or lie as still as the elders had told him to. "Other demons being stupid again?"

Karkat looked at him in the way he always had, incredulous and exasperated and a little bit fond. "It's a damn good thing I warned them you're a little shit, because I'm pretty sure Eridan at least would have had you throttled for that comment."

John studied the curve of his cheek and that arrogant arch of his eyebrows; the village craftsmen could never quite capture the lines and angles that made him up. Oh, the figures were disturbingly accurate copies of the demon of Cancer, considering that before John's Claiming, there had been no sighting of him for centuries. But the perfectly-measured angles and curves could not quite capture _Karkat Vantas_ \- the powerful leader and First Saviour of the universe. Karkat Vantas, the odd, insecure demon who liked chocolate cookies and things shaped like crabs, who cried at romantic plays and had eyes that burned like molten iron. Karkat Vantas, who owned his soul and stole his heart.

He let himself relax upon the table- he hadn't even realised he was tense- and let out a sigh. "I have no idea why you picked the slowest method on earth to sacrifice someone. That was pretty terrible planning." He tried to regulate his breathing; would he die quicker if his heart was racing?

"They don't call me the Knight of Blood on a fucking whim, you idiot. The strength of a sacrifice to a demon is intensified by deaths that have something to do with, well, us. Can squeeze more juice out of your pathetic little souls that way." Karkat raised his eyebrows. "Somebody obviously missed one too many mythology classes."

"Are you going to eat my soul?"

"Fuck, no. I claimed you, moron. We're stuck with each other." Karkat traced a claw along the edge of the clean, bleeding slice along his arm. He was full of sharp edges, like the ceremonial knives of his priests. "Not long now."

"I've probably kept you waiting long enough." There was a swirl of unspoken questions hanging in the air between them- why didn't you have me sacrificed back then? Why did you keep me alive until now?

"You were entertaining." The demon brushed his clawed fingers through John's hair. "And then you turned into so much more than that."

"If you're trying to say I love you then you're doing it wrong," John said with a short laugh. 

"Then I'll give it to you straight- I fucking love you, John Egbert, and there's no one else I'd rather spend the rest of eternity with than you. The only thing I could possibly regret about claiming you is that it didn't let you live long enough to make the most of your ridiculously short human existence."

It was the reminder of what he was losing that made the tightly-coiled, quiet terror in him suddenly unravel, and he clutched at Karkat's hand with wild eyes darting around the room. "I don't want to die- there's so much- I'm only _seventeen_ -"

The hand grabbing at Karkat's was bright red with his blood. He imagined he could feel it slipping away from his body, leaving only emptiness behind, a vacuum in which his veins were collapsing and closing, and he didn't know if that was the way it worked but the thought made him panic and clutch harder. 

"Look at me," Karkat said, soft like John hadn't known he could be. "Just at me- there you go."

"It hurts," he choked out, heart racing with uncertainty. "I didn't think it would hurt."

Karkat's smile was regretful. "There aren't many things that don't hurt. I thought you of all people would know that." He stilled another of John's whimpers with a finger upon his mouth. 

John sighed weakly. "Make- make sure Dad's alright for me, will you?"

"Dumbass," Karkat said. "If you ever think I wouldn't, I'm going to have to give you back to Aradia."

"Bluh," John replied, grinning a little more widely and allowing his eyes to fall closed.

His head felt like it was getting lighter, and the pain flaring from the cuts on his forearms still hadn't faded. He wondered whether it was better to die like this- slowly, certainly, rather than the quick but brutal death he would have had at the hands of the Spirits' Messenger. But it was an unfair comparison, he reflected. Fighting someone he knew, someone who could be a friend or a child or an elderly woman, versus the Harvester of Souls himself running fingers through his hair like he was putting him to sleep. It wasn't a tough choice.

"I'm scared," he admitted, in barely more than a whisper. "It hurts- I don't know-"

"Hush," Karkat said again, lacing their fingers together and bringing John's hand up to his lips. His skin was warm, so incredibly warm, and John realised through the tiredness and the horrible ooze of blood down his arm and into the sheets, that his own body was freezing. "It's only a little longer, love. Only a little longer."

His lips were numb.

"It's like falling asleep," Karkat assured him.

 _Stay with me,_ John tried to say, but his tongue felt large and too heavy in his mouth, and all he could do was hiss weakly.

Karkat seemed to understand him though. "I'm not going anywhere. I am going to sit right here- right here, alright? And I'll see you on the other side. I promise."

The darkness behind his closed eyes seemed to grow dimmer, press _harder_ like he'd never known darkness could do, as if it were a physical push against his body. Thoughts were coming, fragmented and slow, and all his senses seemed to dull- this wasn't like falling asleep, but strangely, he was at peace. 

On the other side, Karkat had told him, there would be a blue planet, and in there would be the fields that the Old Myths told of. He could sit there, where the grass was black and white and two planets in the sky dragged their moons on heavy chains, and look into the River of Souls as he pleased. On the other side, he could roam freely across the old battlefield and never fear death again.

"You're mine," the demon whispered, and the kiss pressed to his freezing skin of his lips was so warm it felt like burning. "Just as I am yours. And I'm never leaving you behind."

And when John finally let himself go, the first and last thing he saw would be the face of Karkat Vantas.


End file.
